St. Helena, CA, February 9, 2016 -- Wine Market Council, a non-profit association of grape growers, wine producers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and other affiliated wine businesses and organizations, today released new research on consumer wine consumption habits. The research was presented January 25th at Wine Market Council’s 2016 Consumer Research Conference in New York. At their upcoming California conference, taking place March 10 in Yountville, California, Wine Market Council, Nielsen and Texas Tech University PhD candidate Nicholas Johnston will present additional research on women and wine as well as expanded research on Millennials and wine packaging.

“Our New York conference really laid the groundwork and provided the latest insights on consumer wine consumption,” said John Gillespie, President of Wine Market Council. “This year’s research results on consumer purchasing and consumption habits for wine, beer and spirits, are highly insightful, across all major demographics. We look forward to expanding those research results for the attendees of our California conference.”

Highlights of the research presented at the Wine Market Council 2016 Consumer Research Conference in New York include:

John Gillespie, President of Wine Market Council, opened the conference with a presentation on the state of the wine market, the latest U.S. adult segmentation and beverage usage data and a report on new data from Wine Market Council’s most recent high frequency wine drinker study, including a comparison of at-home and on-premise wine dynamics and imported and domestic wine purchase habits. Highlights of his research findings include:

Since 2000, the high frequency wine drinker segment (defined as those who consume wine several times per week or daily) has more than doubled – from 7.6% of all U.S. LDA (legal drinking age) adults in 2000 to 13% in 2015.

From 2000 – 2005, occasional wine drinkers (defined as those who consume wine once a week or less) surged from 18% to 26% of all U.S. LDA adults. This was driven by a drop in non-adopter adults (those who drink beer and/or spirits but not wine) from 33% of the legal drinking age population to 24%.

Between 2005 and 2010, there was a surge in high frequency wine drinkers from 7.9% to 13.9% of the LDA population, driven by the Millennials. This also accounted for a decline in the occasional wine drinker population from 26.2% to 20.3%

Between 2010 and 2015, there has been very little movement to wine drinking from the non-adopter segment, but the occasional wine drinker segment has grown slightly, and the high frequency wine drinker segment has declined slightly due to consolidation of the high frequency wine drinker segment.
(Source of all above research: WMC – High Frequency Tracking Study, November 2015)

Danny Brager, Senior Vice President of Nielsen’s Beverage Alcohol Practice Area, followed Gillespie’s proposal with a wine, beer and spirits industry overview including the most recent trends inclusive of both retail and direct to consumer wine channels, as well as perspectives on the continued battle of occasion within the broader adult beverage industry. Highlights of his research findings include:

Of the total $216 billion consumers annually spend on beverage alcohol (both on and off premise), $104 billion is spent on beer, $80 billion on spirits and $32 billion on wine. (Source: Beverage Information Group, Annual 2015 Preliminary Estimates)

Sparkling wine growth is leading in the off premise wine channel with an 11.7% dollar growth rate in 2015 while table wine is increasing at a 5.2% annual growth rate. (Source: Nielsen Total U.S. All Outlets, (xAOC + Liquor Plus + Conv + Military); 52 w/e 1-2-2016)

Consumers continue to trade up in their wine selections, leading to double digit sales gains in wines over $11, and losses for those at the lower ends. (Source: Nielsen Total U.S. All Outlets, (xAOC + Liquor Plus + Conv + Military); 52 w/e 1-2-2016)

Significantly more Millennials (40% more) than the overall adult population drink beer, wine and spirits at least several times a year; only 4% of Millennials drink only wine (not beer or spirits) several times a year or more. (Nielsen survey conducted via the Harris Poll QuickQuery 2015)

The on premise is under significant pressure from a variety of corners, and where the impact of grazing across categories by Millennials in particular is most prevalent. (Source: Nielsen survey conducted via the Harris Poll QuickQuery December 2015)

Jennifer Pagano, Direct of Research for Wine Market Council, and Danelle Kosmal, Vice President of Nielsen’s Beverage Alcohol Practice Area, together presented the latest Wine Market Council and Nielsen data on women who drink wine – how different segments of female wine drinkers consume and shop for wine, where it fits into their lives, and what they think about wine that is marketed to them. Highlights of their research findings include:

Wine is winning with women. Women account for 57% of wine volume in the U.S. (Source: Nielsen Spectra 2015)

51% of females 21-24 say organic or sustainably-produced products are important when making their purchase decision for wine, while 38% of total females (vs 32% of males) say it’s important for wine. (Source: Nielsen survey conducted by Harris Poll, August 2015)

Female wine drinkers rated “traditional, classic, and sophisticated" labels more intriguing than other types of labels. 46% of respondents rated this type of label the top two ratings on a 7-point scale that ranged from completely uninterested to very intrigued. 26% of women have purchased wines that have been created for and are marketed specifically to women. (Source: WMC Female Wine Drinker Survey 2015)

Women are more likely to buy a wine they've never tried before based on the label when browsing or based on a recommendation from friends, family, and off- or on-premise staff, rather than seek out a wine they've read about. (Source: WMC Female Wine Drinker Survey 2015)

At the New York conference, Texas Tech University PhD candidate, Nicholas Johnston, presented some of his research on Millennial wine drinker preferences for alternative wine packaging. Johnston will showcase more of his research on this topic at the upcoming California conference and Jennifer Pagano of Wine Market Council and Danelle Kosmal of Nielsen will feature additional research on women who drink wine.

Wine Market Council’s 2016 Consumer Research Conference takes place on Thursday, March 10, 2016, in Yountville, California. Wine Market Council’s Consumer Research Conferences are free for Wine Market Council members (up to 3 company representatives can attend) and $125 for non-members. The Yountville conference will include a networking wine and hors d’oeuvres reception directly following the conference presentations. Registration is now open. Attendees can register at winemarketcouncil.com/conference. For more information on the conferences, contact Sherri Fidel at admin@winemarketcouncil.com or 707.738.8796.

About Wine Market Council

Wine Market Council is a non-profit association of grape growers, wine producers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and other affiliated wine businesses and organizations. The council’s mission is to grow, strengthen, and stabilize the wine market in the U.S. on behalf of all segments of the industry. Wine Market Council provides its members with consumer research that is proprietary to Wine Market Council members, who incorporate it into their strategic planning, marketing and sales execution. Wine Market Council was established in 1994 as a non-profit (501c6) trade association working through all tiers of the U.S. wine industry to grow the wine market. More information can be found at WineMarketCouncil.com and on Twitter @WineMktCouncil.